Road Runners on the A52

Well, the best laid plans etc etc. I was all enthused up about having a stroll around Shipley park on Thursday with 200-Chris and I go and get the sort of cold that is best kept under the duvet – which is exactly what I did. Pity really, because Shipley has a good mixed environment, with 3 different size and sort of lakes, housing, woodlands and fields. 

In an RSPB guided walk many years ago, before I got to know a bit about birding, I was pointed out a Grey Heron in the trees at Mapperley reservoir which turned out to be a plastic bag. It was also the first bird site that I ever went to for a dawn chorus walk.  

My only compensation this week was that on Tuesday on the way back from Carsington after a Volunteer Ranger meeting, a Barn Owl flew over near the Cock Inn at Mugginton, so that dragged me on to 179 year to date.

Good news from the meeting. Plans are starting to be formulated for the celebration on 22nd May. 2017, of the 25^th Anniversary of the opening of Carsington Water by The Queen in 1992.  22^nd May will be a Monday, so most of the activities and celebrations will be in the previous week. It will also include the official opening of the new bird hide on Stones Island, thanks mainly to the generous bequest by the late Janet Ede. I have written about Janet before, and this will be a fitting tribute to her memory.

A quick look at Birdguides shows that there have been 37 reports TO-DAY (Thursday 24^th November) of Waxwing sightings mainly way up in the North East, including one report of 600 in Nairn on the Moray Firth. A few have drifted further south, with 15 in Somerset near Weston-Super-Mare, but closer to home some have been sighted in Bamford and Glossop. A group appears to be well settled at The Spa PH in Scarborough, and a few have been seen in Norfolk.   I don’t think there is much doubt – the irruption is happening.  

Ed: A nice cock pheasant had Kamikaze intentions on the road to Ashbourne. Missed!

Hello………………. Quick flurry of Whatsapp messages as a result of Supergran adding a Scaup at Carsington this morning, to hit 198!!

Just received my copy of the DOS Bird Report for 2015. Superb publication with an incredible 226 pages, 4 more than last year. It has a huge amount of information on sightings, specialists, rarities, ringing, trip reports, just masses of good useful information. Many people contribute to the publication, compiling sections on groups of species to build up the jigsaw of the 143-page systematic list of the 2015 sightings.

I particularly like the ringing section. If you have been (lucky enough-) to see my Osprey presentation, you will know how I enthuse amount how much we found out about the 3 Carsington Osprey visitors just based on the leg ring. 

In the Report, as examples, there is a Blackbird seen in Clowne, then 3 years later dead in Sweden, or the Chiffchaff ringed in Derbyshire and caught by a ringer 2 years later in Norway.   Fascinating stuff.

Sunday 27^th November.

Encountered a group of birders from Grimsby RSPB who had come for a days’ birding at Carsington. No reports yet of the GN Diver, but at the Wildlife Centre, a Stonechat was very visible for everyone, on Horseshoe Island, and a Brambling popped in briefly on the willow bush in front of the windows. 

Guess who didn’t hear the call!!

Sunday 4^th December.  Just a reminder that next Sunday will be the last Beginners walk for 2016.

BFN